VIVA LA VIDA ━ MINSUNG ✓

IN MY PLACE

Jisung didn't know how he kept finding himself in these situations.

He made sure in the beginning of the school year, while fighting through mobs of angry mothers trying to buy the correct supplies, to grab pens. Now, looking through his pencil pouch, he realized that he was left empty handed. It was his fault for being too nice, he figured. He always let people borrow his pens, although he knew that "borrowing" was actually "conveniently forgetting to return".

Penless and fuming over the fact that he was falling behind on notes, he turned to the boy beside him. He was a quiet one, and had never spoken to Jisung before, but a pen was a pen, and Jisung saw no problem in asking for one.

He hesitated slightly, tapping the boys shoulder gently.

Said boy jumped, looking at Jisung with a confused gaze.

Swallowing his awkwardness, Jisung managed a weak smile. "Do you uh.. have a pen I could borrow?"

Snapping out of his previously bewildered expression, he nodded, pulling a pen out from his bag. "Just give it back when you're done," his neighboring student said, handing it to him.

Jisung grinned widely. "Sure thing, thanks."
Just before he was prepared to copy down the notes that he had been missing, his heart dropped slightly as he caught sight of the other boys handwriting.

It wasn't exactly neat, but it wasn't careless either. The carefully printed lettering, the way his "i's were dotted with hollow circles.

This was L.M.

The teachers words didn't seem very important at this point, Jisung tuning him out as he looked at the boys face.

Could this really be his penpal?

Well shit. He's hot.

People would always talk about being able to feel a pair of eyes on them from across the room, but Minho never could understand that. He was never really the type to notice when someone was staring at him from afar, but when it came from right next to him, it wasn't difficult to note that the person's attention obviously wasn't on the board.

Tilting his head slightly, he moved his gaze from the notebook in hand, to the boy who had just asked for a pen. His cheeks were dusted a light shade of pink, but he blamed it on the heat of the classroom. The boy was just staring, and Minho had no idea what to do, because he was staring too.

Sending the boy a small smile, Minho bowed his head ever so slightly, before returning his focus back towards the front. His nerves had gotten the best of him.

Embarrassed that he'd been caught staring, Jisung quickly averted his gaze to the board at the front of the classroom.

He itched to tell L.M that he was H.J, or Han Jisung, but he just couldn't.

There was comfort in the way that he could just express himself however he pleased in his letters, the fear of being judged by anyone absent as he poured his thoughts through his pen and onto the paper.

He'd showed a vulnerable side of himself, and had even told L.M about his brother.

What if the other boy thought he was weird now? After all, he was just caught staring, his ears now a deep shade of crimson.

Would he be disappointed to find out that H.J was him? Was L.M perhaps expecting someone much more attractive than himself?

Jisung feared that he wouldn't live up to the other boys expectations, which was why he decided to keep his mouth shut for the remainder of the period.